Minkah Fitzpatrick, who has been an East Coast deep middle playmaker for two AFC franchises over the past eight seasons, returns to his Jersey roots after being traded from the Dolphins to the Jets for a seventh-round draft choice. Here are five things to know about Fitzpatrick:
Garden State Welcome Home
Fitzpatrick's finally back in his home state. After many flybys to Pittsburgh and Miami and visits home and to the Meadowlands, he's back where he first starred. Born in Old Bridge, NJ, he was a WR and safety for St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City.
A banner season for him was 2014-15. For the St. Peter's football team, he caught 45 passes for 1,111 yards and 12 touchdowns on offense and posted 70 tackles and 3 INTs for the D. In the Non-Public Group 4 championship run that season, Fitzpatrick was one of the leaders of the 11-1 Marauders, and he scored 5 receiving TDs in their three playoff games, including one in the 34-18 state title win over Paramus Catholic at, of all venus, MetLife Stadium.
He also ran track for St. Pete's, placing first in the Hudson County Championships in the 100 (10.86 seconds) and 200 (21.66) meters. And he signed with Alabama at the 2015 National Signing Day. Quite an annus mirabilis.
Overcoming a Family Crisis
Before and during his athletic acclaim, Fitzpatrick, 29, had a bigger task. Old Bridge touches on Raritan Bay and has numerous rivers and streams flowing off the bay. In 2011, Hurricane Irene devastated his family's home with river flooding that led to the house being condemned. He helped his father, Minkah Sr., and the family rebuild the structure each evening after football practice.
Such a major project and hardships instilled a sense of faith, discipline and a never-say-die attitude.
"You see in a time like that what the foundation is, and how everything is the foundation," Fitzpatrick told Yahoo Sports in 2018. "Everything else can be gone in a second."
Check out the best photos of Minkah Fitzpatrick. The All-Pro safety was trade to the Jets and signed an extension in March.
Minkah Turns to Micah
The flood and its aftermath didn't bring religion to the Fitzpatricks; the family brought faith to their trials. Minkah's father was raised Muslim but found Christianity and his mother is Catholic. Fitzpatrick has spoken of how important some Bible verses are to him, such as Micah 7:8.
" 'When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me,' " he recited the verse. "There's been times in my life when I had to do that. It speaks to me and applies to me."
The Bama Years
Fitzpatrick took his faith and discipline to Alabama, where he starred for three seasons. In 2015, his 2 interception-return touchdowns led the SEC. In '16 he led the conference with 6 INTs (2 more for scores) and 186 return yards.
In ' 2017, he wrapped up his Crimson Tide career with his ninth INT, his second consensus first-team All-America honors, and the Jim Thorpe (college football's top DB) and Chuck Bednarik (Defensive Player of the Year) awards, at the time enabling him to join Charles Woodson (Michigan, '97) and Patrick Peterson (LSU, '10) as the only players to win the Thorpe and Bednarik awards in the same season.
Tale of the Pro Tape
One thing about Fitzpatrick's stellar pro career, two shorter stints with the Dolphins sandwiched around a five-plus-year stay with the Steelers, is that he's been recognized as one of the NFL's best safeties, being named to five Pro Bowls and three All-Pro first teams
Another thing that is music to the ears of the Green & White and their fans: He still has his big-play/takeaway touch. His 6 INTs in 2022 led the league., From 2018-25, he's tied for fifth in the league in total takeaways (28) and tied for the second-most defensive return TDs (5).
Through it all, Fitzpatrick has kept his eyes on the prize. "A lot of distractions, a lot of temptations can throw you off your course," he has said. "The path in front is the most important path. Anything that tries to pull you off that path is not necessary."
